Nebraska Inmate, Transgender Partner Appeal Marriage Ruling

(AP) — A Nebraska prison inmate and his transgender partner are appealing a judge’s decision to dismiss their lawsuit against the state prison system, which they say has refused to let them marry.

The couple is challenging a Nebraska constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns dismissed the case on grounds that the prisoner, Harold Wilson, and Gracy Sedlak failed to pay an $82 court filing fee. Sedlak previously identified as a man named John Jirovsky.

The 57-year-old Wilson is serving a 56- to 170-year prison sentence for attempted murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. The 27-year-old Sedlak can’t visit Wilson because of a three-year waiting period on former inmates visiting prisons.